Thorgal
Thorgal is a fantasy comic series created by the author Jean van Hamme and drawn by Grzegorz Rosiński up to volume 36 . Yves Sente wrote the scenarios for volumes 30 - 34, Xavier Dorison for volume 35, and Yann from volume 36 onwards . With Volume 37, Fred Vignaux replaces Rosinski as a draftsman.
The first volumes were published in 1980 by the Belgian comic book publisher Le Lombard . In Germany , the albums were published as soft covers by Carlsen Comics from 1987 onwards and represent one of the longest running fantasy series in the publisher's program. In 2011, Splitter Verlag took over the hardcover publications with volume 32 and gradually re-released all previous volumes in the original French order.
content
The main character Thorgal grows up as an orphan with a Viking tribe in the seventh century after he is found in a space capsule .
He is forced to deal with power-hungry rulers, narrow-minded gods, mythical creatures, forces of nature and fanatics. Although he often has to perform incredible heroics, he is at heart a thoughtful person who wants to live in peace with his family. He regrets that his life path must always be marked by loss and suffering. Again and again he is forced to deal with the rough world in order to defend his existence. Supernatural phenomena often play a role, especially the will of the gods.
The plot is largely linear, only now and then it happens that an incident from the previous history of one of the characters is examined in more detail. As the story progresses, Thorgal gradually learns more about his origins.
main characters
Thorgal Aegirson is the son of Xargos and Haynee of the Star People. He was born on a spaceship during a storm and placed in a space capsule. This is found by Vikings, the boy is named after the gods Thor and Aegir and adopted by the chief. After his death, Thorgal was expelled from the community, initially received no military training and had to live as a skald . He is an excellent archer, swimmer and fighter, although he is fundamentally opposed to violence. He is a handsome man with shoulder-length black hair and blue-green eyes, which is why he is often admired by women in the course of his adventures, but still loves only Aaricia. He is admired, envied and hated by men for his fighting skills.
Aaricia is Thorgal's wife and the mother of his children. She is the beautiful daughter of Gandalf the Mad and thus a Viking princess. Her father and brother Bjorn are great enemies of Thorgal, as he is not a game that gives the family an advantage. Aaricia is a very beautiful blonde woman with blue eyes. Even if she rejects violence, she is quite able to defend herself by fighting.
Jolan is the son and firstborn of Thorgal and Aaricia. With his medium-length blonde hair and blue eyes, he looks like his mother. In contrast to his father, he has inherited something of the power of the people of the stars: He is able to change matter, destroy it or make it disappear completely. His power is expressed in his childhood when his dreams come true. Even without his mental powers, Jolan is a good fighter. After sacrificing himself in Volume 29 for his father's recovery, he has to leave his family.
Lupine is Thorgal's and Aaricia's daughter. Like her father, she has black hair and blue-green eyes. She, too, inherited powers from the people of the stars; she can talk to animals, which she often uses to save her family by asking her animal friends for protection. She has a special relationship with wolves: she was born in a wolf cave because Aaricia was persecuted shortly before she was born and hid there. Because there was another pregnant wolf lying next to her and she allowed her as an intruder, Aaricia called her daughter “Lupine” (from the Latin word for wolf, “lupus”).
Kriss de Valnor appears for the first time in volume 9. She is an attractive young woman who does anything for wealth, often using brutality and brute force. Even if Thorgal despises her because of the latter quality, she falls in love with him and takes advantage of Thorgal's memory loss to pretend to be his wife, to carry out conquests with him and to amass an enormous treasure. She becomes the mother of boy Aniel. Despite all the humiliations she had to experience from her, Aaricia takes the boy with her after Kriss' death. In the series dedicated to her, The Worlds of Thorgal - Kriss de Valnor , you learn why she became the brutal warrior and what happens after her death.
Important minor characters
The guardian of the keys is an immortal, inviolable and magical young woman who is subordinate to the gods and serves them by ensuring that no one unauthorized changes between worlds such as Asgard, Midgard and other intermediate realms. She has floor-length black hair and is bare except for a gold belt adorned with a red gemstone. She has a thing for handsome men, including Thorgal. For this and other reasons she is removed from office by the gods and becomes a completely normal person, as it turns out in volume 6 of the series The Worlds of Thorgal - Lupine . Her successor has floor-length red hair and is more strict about the law.
Vigrid is a small and relatively insignificant god. In order to achieve something he left Asgard for adventure. After being caught and blinded by a giant, he wanders through Midgard until he meets Aaricia. With a pair of magic pearls that she held in her hand when she was born, she was able to heal his eyes and promised never to see him as a little god. Vigrid fell in love with her and is by her side every now and then. Since he also sees a competitor in Thorgal, he does not always use his advantage, which goes so far that he, like the guardian of the keys, opposes Frigg's request. As a punishment, he is first turned into a black elf and later has to serve as a Midgard snake Nidhöggr.
Gandalf the Mad and Bjorn are Aaricia's father and brother. Though they are constantly indebted to Thorgal for saving their crown, life and Aaricia, they hate him deeply because he is different and assume that as the adopted son of a Viking captain he wants to dispute them for the title. Usually it is people who still have an account with Gandalf who trigger an adventure. The hatred goes so far that Gandalf chains him to the Rock of the Damned in order to drown him in the rising tide. He is saved by the sorceress Slive, which starts the action in the original sequence.
Hierulf is the "thinker" in the village from Thorgal's childhood. In addition to Thorgal, he is the person with whom Gandalf and Bjorn most often quarrel, as Hierulf, as a wise man, enjoys very high recognition among the residents. He is also a secret protector of the orphan Thorgal. When he finally refuses to tolerate Gandalf's illegal activities and even to cover up and support them, he prefers death - and ends up on the rock of the damned . Although he manages to survive through a trick, Thorgal remains abandoned and disappointed that he has lost his only like-minded person.
Volumes
Note: Volume 7 appeared in Germany as Volume 1, in contrast to the original French-language publication. Since it actually plays before the other volumes in chronological terms, it is reproduced here in the German publication order:
| No. - German title (year of publication Carlsen / Splitter) | No. - Original title (year of publication) |
|---|---|
| 01 - The son of the stars (1987/2011) | 07 - L'enfant des étoiles (1984) |
| 02 - Revenge of the Sorceress (1987/2011) | 01 - La magicienne trahie (1980) |
| 03 - The Isle of Eternal Frost (1988/2011) | 02 - L'ile des mers gelées (1980) |
| 04 - The old men of Aran (1988/2012) | 03 - Les trois vieillards du pays d'Aran (1981) |
| 05 - Galley of Death (1988/2012) | 04 - La galère noire (1982) |
| 06 - Beyond the Shadows (1988/2012) | 05 - Au-delà des ombres (1983) |
| 07 - The Fall of Brek Zarith (1989/2012) | 06 - La chute de Brek Zarith (1984) |
| 08 - The Power of Dreams (1989/2012) | 08 - Alinoe (1985) |
| 09 - The people of the arrows (1990/2012) | 09 - Les Archers (1985) |
| 10 - The Land of Qâ (1990/2012) | 10 - Le pays Qâ (1986) |
| 11 - The eyes of Tanatloc (1991/2012) | 11 - Les yeux de Tanatloc (1986) |
| 12 - The Forbidden City (1992/2012) | 12 - La cité du dieu perdu (1987) |
| 13 - Deadly Sun (1992/2013) | 13 - Entre terre et lumière (1988) |
| 14 - Aaricia (1993/2013) | 14 - Aaricia (1989) |
| 15 - The Ring of Phaios (1993/2013) | 15 - Le mâitre des montagnes (1989) |
| 16 - Lupine (1994/2013) | 16 - Louve (1990) |
| 17 - The Guardian of Keys (1994/2013) | 17 - La gardienne des clés (1991) |
| 18 - The Sun Value (1994/2013) | 18 - L'épée-soleil (1992) |
| 19 - The Invisible Fortress (1995/2014) | 19 - La forteresse invisible (1993) |
| 20 - The Exiled (1996/2014) | 20 - La marque des bannis (1995) |
| 21 - The Crown of Ogotai (1996/2014) | 21 - La couronne d'Ogotai (1995) |
| 22 - In the Land of Giants (1997/2014) | 22 - Geants (1996) |
| 23 - The Cage (1998/2015) | 23 - La cage (1997) |
| 24 - arachnea (1999/2015) | 24 - Arachnéa (1999) |
| 25 - The Blue Death (2000/2015) | 25 - Le mal bleu (1999) |
| 26 - The Empire under the Desert (2001/2015) | 26 - Le royaume sous le sable (2001) |
| 27 - The Barbarian (2003/2015) | 27 - Le barbare (2002) |
| 28 - Alte Feindin (2005) / Kriss de Valnor (2015) | 28 - Kriss de Valnor (2004) |
| 29 - The Sacrifice (2007/2015) | 29 - Le Sacrifice (November 2006) |
| 30 - Me, Jolan (2008/2016) | 30 - Moi, Jolan (October 2007; first album with scenario by Yves Sente ) |
| 31 - The Shield of Thor (April 2010 / February 2016) | 31 - Le Bouclier de Thor (November 2008) |
| 32 - The Battle of Asgard (May 2011) | 32 - La bataille d'Asgard (November 2010) |
| 33 - sword boat (March 2012) | 33 - Le bateau-saber (November 2011) |
| 34 - Kah-Aniel (April 2014) | 34 - Kah-Aniel (November 2013) |
| 35 - Scarlet (September 2017) | 35 - Le feu écarlate (November 2016; first album with scenario by Xavier Dorison) |
| 36 - Aniel (July 2019) | 36 - Aniel (November 2018; first album with scenario by Yann) |
| 37 - The Hermit of Skellingar (April 2020) | 37 - L'Ermite de Skellingar (November 2019; first with drawing by Fred Vignaux) |
In addition, a limited hardcover edition of volumes 1 to 9 was published in German between 1994 and 1996 by the Dutch Pegasus Verlag.
Spin offs
The album series Die Welten von Thorgal started in 2011 as an "offshoot" of the series , which has the adventures of family members and companions of Thorgal as its content. It started with a multi-part about Kriss de Valnor , a warrior who made her first appearance on the ninth album, The People of the Arrows, and has since acted partly as an opponent and partly as an ally of Thorgal. The story takes place after the character's death (in album 28: Alte Feindin bei Carlsen , Splitter Kriss de Valnor ), after the gods could not decide due to their actions which part of the afterlife she is entitled to and whether she can move into the warrior paradise Valhalla . The adventures of Kriss de Valnor were drawn up to volume 5 by Giulio de Vita, the texts were by Yves Sente . Volume 6 was drawn by Roman Surzhenko and written by Mathieu Mariolle and Xavier Dorison, from volume 7 Fred Vignaux took over the drawings, from volume 8 Mariolle is solely responsible for the scenario.
The worlds of Thorgal - Kriss de Valnor
- I forget nothing! , May 2011
- The Judgment of the Valkyries , July 2012
- Worthy of a Queen , April 2013
- Covenants , February 2014
- Red like the Raheborg , May 2015
- The Island of Lost Children , June 2016
- The mountain of time , April 2018
- The Lord of Justice , September 2019
In 2012 a multi-part series about Thorgal's daughter Lupine started , written by Yann and drawn by Roman Surzhenko. The Lupine plot runs parallel to the main series and plays at the same time as the Thorgal volumes from album 31.
The worlds of Thorgal - Lupine
- Raïssa , May 2012
- The cut hand of the god Tyr , February 2013
- The Realm of Chaos , September 2013
- Crow , September 2014
- Skal , September 2015
- The Queen of the Black Elves , July 2017
- Nidhöggr , January 2018
Thorgal's youth started in July 2013. The story begins at the time when the boy Thorgal was forced to live as a skald and was not allowed to participate in the martial training of the other Viking sons. Like the Lupine series, Thorgal's Jugend is written by Yann and drawn by Roman Surzhenko.
The worlds of Thorgal - Thorgal's youth
- The three sisters , July 2013
- The Eye of Odin , July 2014
- Runa , March 2016
- Berserker , January 2017
- Slive , July 2018
- The Drakkar from the ice , March 2019
- Blue Tooth , December 2019
In the 36th volume of the main series, Aniel , the storylines from Kriss de Valnor (following on from The Lord of Justice ) and Lupine ( Nidhöggr ) are merged with the main thread .
computer game
In 2003, the Canadian brought Publisher The Adventure Company , a by Cryo Interactive Entertainment developed Adventure - Computer game entitled Curse of Atlantis: Thorgal's Quest (in German-speaking Thorgal - Curse of Odin ) to the market.
Stamp
On January 26, 2015, the Belgian Post issued a stamp with a portrait of Thorgal.
Web links
- Official website (French)
- Thorgal in the German Comic Guide
- Thorgal as a series at LibraryThing
- Previous albums published by Splitter Verlag